TV Music Deliverables

[Nate Hoffman]

I’m working on my first network TV show and the person in charge of the production company’s music catalogue and royalties has requested the following for each episode:

1. Interleaved stereo AND 5.1 bounced mixes as .wav (or .aiff) files of each individual, unprocessed (not dipped) cue as they appear in the project.
2. Interleaved stereo AND 5.1 bounced mixes as .wav (or .aiff) files of each individual cue as delivered by the composer.
3. Pro Tools sessions for each individual cue as they appear in the project.
4. 5.1 stems AND folded-down stereo stems of each instrument organized by cue as they appear in the project.
5. 5.1 stems AND folded-down stereo stems of each instrument organized by cue as delivered by the composer.

Is this normal? It seems like a lot of wasted time and file space to me. Especially the stereo and 5.1 stems of the cues as in the project AND as delivered by the composer (which are nearly identical).

[sdmaas]

This is normal. 5.1 projects get crazy for TV because they need boatloads of stems individualy sent in. It is not uncommon to have them ask for ALL discrete 5.1 channels too. My stereo projects typically have a minimum of 4 files required to send in: Music, Dialog, Fx/Foley, Master mix. Target loudness is important... TV and YouTube use much different for levels. They request all the stems usually so someone down the line can “remix” to whatever standard is needed. Basically you do the hard work, they push faders and get the credit.

[Nate Hoffman]

Originally Posted by sdmaas

This is normal. 5.1 projects get crazy for TV because they need boatloads of stems individualy sent in. It is not uncommon to have them ask for ALL discrete 5.1 channels too. My stereo projects typically have a minimum of 4 files required to send in: Music, Dialog, Fx/Foley, Master mix. Target loudness is important... TV and YouTube use much different for levels. They request all the stems usually so someone down the line can “remix” to whatever standard is needed. Basically you do the hard work, they push faders and get the credit.

Good to know that this is normal. These music deliverables are completely separate from the usual 5.1 and stereo full mix, M&E, and stems that they want. They also want mono dialogue and FX stems which is new for me, but not a big deal.

[BScout]

No. Not normal for music delivery to production (all the per music cue stuff). Someone is being incredibly lazy on their side. Is there no music editor? Are you the music mixer or the re-recording mixer?

#3 sounds like you are the music mixer.

Production sometimes ask for the 5.1s of individual cues (as boiler template) but when asked they usually only want stereos for their catalog. This is for their archive and goes nowhere (unless the show is sold—then these will be handed over to the network/buyer)

I hope you are charging extra. Someone is trying to get you to generate the cue sheet for them more or less. Not the re-recording or music mixer’s job. And some of this should be taken care of by the composer/music team.

Usual:
Re-recording mixer sends final music stem (stereo) to music editor along with final full stereo mix (print master)
Composer/music team sends stereo music mixes (and sometimes the stereo stems delivered to the dub and/or all/any original recordings) to production as part of their deliverables.

Music editor uses the stereo mixes of the cues they already have (from the composer) + the final (stereo) music stem from the dub to generate a cue sheet. (Along with any source music info/tracks from the music supervisor). The music stem from the re-recording mixer is used for timing and usage numbers in the final mix of the show.

This is all separate from broadcast deliverables due by the re-recording mixer (which would include M&E, etc); this is specific to music only.

[minister]

I agree with BScout.

If you are not being paid to make a Cue Sheet, You can also offer to generate a Text file (Export Session as Text with the MX tracks as EDL only) to make it easy for them to generate a Cue Sheet.

[Pete Gates]

Firstly (and mainly) I would not expect to have to do all that extra work - unless it was pre-agreed.

If you need to do quick and dirty music cue sheets my PT Session software (which is more targeted towards ADR these days to be honest) can do them. It’s free so not trying to sell you anything!

Cheers,
Pete

[Nate Hoffman]

Thanks for the additional info everyone. My gut says they’re asking too much of me as the post sound supervisor/re-recording mixer. I’m working on a tight schedule and was made aware of these deliverables after budgets had already been set. I just didn’t know though because this is my first time working on national episodic TV.

[sdmaas]

I guess I'm used to the "Label" that I do work for doing exactly this. They have me do the grunt work and then they turn it over to someone else to literally put their name on it. Think of "Beats by Dre" how obviously HE did not make the damn headphones, just endorsed them... Maybe a bad metaphor, but it can plant the thought process. It does seem like a lot of work, but in my experience, they will just find another one of the 8 million audio engineers in the world to do it. Good luck.

[philper]

Is that deliverables list specified in your contract? The op says it is a "request" from the music dept.--"requests" that take as much time and brainpower to organize as that list of files would require have to be paid for somehow. Was this request made before or after the work of mixing the show was done? Some of this kind of thing can be done by adjusting templates etc if the system doing the mix has enough mojo to run many more buses.

[its2loud]

What network is this? These requests are absolutely ludicrous. I would find a contact person at the network and negotiate an alternative delivery. Most networks are flexible for show that aren’t budgeted for such Deliverables. Also, most of those things in the list should come from the composer or music editor. Not the Re-recording Mixer